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Saucer
Holy-- where did '''those' things come from?!'' -An Apache Pilot, encountering the Saucer The aptly named Saucer is the primary Hierarchy air assault unit. General As their name suggests, Saucers are disk shaped-craft with three notches along their sides that allow for Plasma Orbs (or "Foo fighters" as they are referred to in the XML files) to be held until needed for attack. On the underside of the craft is a bulge that likely contains the vehicle's guidance systems as well as a beam-device that repairs damaged bridges for Hierarchy ground forces to get though. Like several other Hierarchy vehicles, Saucers appear to be fully automated and do not appear to have pilots. Campaign :They never stood a chance against those ships.-Human Military Communications Officer Saucers are first seen flying about the ruins of Washington D.C., but for the most part ignored Colonel Moore and his men as they forced their way to the President. However, after a group of Apache Helicopters arrive and start clearing out alien troops, some of the craft arrive and quickly dispatch the doomed copters. Saucers are then seen flying overhead as escorts for several of the larger Hierarchy transports while the Com Officer informed Moore of the complete destruction of their airforce. After getting the President to safety, a trio of Saucers set to repair escort a Habitat Walker as it marches to the last known military base to wipe out Moore, Sergeant Woolard, and the remaining men. These Saucers were then destroyed by the arrival of Novus Dervish jets. A swarm of Saucers is then later used to harass Mirabel as she sets up a Novus base in the Middle East, curiously flying away after taking out a lone Flow Generator. In the Hierarchy campaign, a group of Saucers are sent by Nufai to aid Orlok the Eternal in delivering the dreaded Purifier safely to his base. Saucers are again used to escort Orlok's transport to the location that Prince Zessus was hiding and may have been used by Orlok during his rebellion. After the escape of Zessus, a swarm of Saucers occasionally flew over the Prince's base and again harassed his forces where possible. Tactical Application Saucer's have a rather unique form of attack, since their plasma orbs will home in on a target and attach. Once attached, the orbs will either damage their target slowly over time if in attack mode (orange) or repair it over time in repair mode (blue), provided that the target does not move out of the Saucer's control range (which will cause the orbs to detach and return) or the Orbs run out of energy and explode. Lost plasma orbs will be replaced after four seconds and will recharge while docked. Their unique attack, speed, and ability to repair fellow Saucers makes the aircraft ideal for harassment. A good tactic is to have a group of six saucers and have half of the craft in repair mode while the other half attacks. Remember that once the Orbs have attached the Saucer is free to fly about as long as they stay near their target and if one gets significantly damaged the entire group can rapidly repair it. Also bear in mind that Saucers are very expensive and have fairly light armor, so it is generally a good idea to have them escorting something with higher priority, such as a Walker or a pack of Defilers. Stats Type: Large Piloted Flying Movement: Flying Max. Speed: 2.9 Health: 425 Armor: Alien Aircraft Sight: 230 Crush Defense: 30 Crush Power: N/A Weaponry Type: Foo x3 Range: 0-200 Damage: 0.4 (1.2) Damage Interval: 0.12 seconds DPS: 3.3 (10) Healing: 0.35 (1.05) Healing Interval: 0.18 seconds HPS: 1.9 (5.8) Production Method: Built by Assembly Walker Prerequisites: None Cost: 750 : 1 '''Cost Optimizer: 690 : ''2 '''Cost Optimizers: 630 : ''3 '''Cost Optimizers: 570 : ''4 '''Cost Optimizers: 510 ''Time: 0:28 : 1 '''Teleport Accelerator: 0:25 : ''2 '''Teleport Accelerators: 0:23 : ''3 '''Teleport Accelerators: 0:20 : ''4 '''Teleport Accelerators: 0:19 ''Pop: 4 Special Abilities Repair Mode/Attack Mode Effect: Toggles between having plasma orbs repair vehicles or attack targets Cooldown: None Note: Orbs glow yellow in attack mode and blue in repair mode Upgrades Foo Longetivity Effect: Orbs gain health regeneration so they last longer away from the Saucer Method: Research Assault Branch Suite 2 Volatile Reactors Effect: Creates radioactive cloud when destroyed Method: Research Mutagen Branch Suite 1 Damage vs. Armor Foos Trivia & Tips * It is generally a good idea to accompany walkers with 3 or more saucers in repair mode to help keep the walker alive in the heat of the battle. * In cutscenes and the tutorial, Saucers are witnessed using some sort of "boost" ability to move much faster than normal. Saucers using this boost have duller plasma orbs and for some odd reason do not rotate as they fly. It is unknown if this is some sort of cut ability or just a scripted behavior. *Saucers are somewhat unique in that they and the Monolith are the only aircraft that are not built from a dedicated aircraft production structure. Category: Hierarchy Units